Creative and cultural industries are now widely acknowledged as dynamic sectors of the world economy offering high growth opportunities. Based on the premise that culture can be a driver of economic growth, governments in Asia and Europe, in consultation with the arts sector and international institutions, are directing investment towards these sectors and developing tailor-made national and local policies. Further, there are growing debates around the development dimension of the creative economy. These ongoing discussions call for a deeper analysis of existing policies shaping the creative economy and their particular potential for innovatively addressing development challenges.

In this context, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) is co-organising the ASEF Experts’ Meeting & Public Forum on Creative Economy in Asia and Europe: Emerging Pillar of Economic Growth & Development on 4-5 December 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

This meeting is organised as part of the ASEF Cultural Policy Dialogue Series and complements ASEF’s support to the WorldCP-International Database of Cultural Policies. The WorldCP initiative is led by the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) and counts the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vietnam among its key regional partners in Asia. The meeting is supported by the British Council, Vietnam and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Netherlands.

Creative industries was identified as an important area of mutual interest and common relevance for Asia-Europe dialogue at the Experts’ Meeting on Cultural Policy (October 2011, Australia) organised in the framework of WorldCP-Asia. This topic is also high on the political agenda of Ministers of Culture in Asia and Europe, who meet biennially in the framework of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). The 6^th ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting (2014, The Netherlands) will specifically focus on the topic of the creative industries.

The meeting consists of three panels and a public forum. The first panel, moderated by Jordi BALTA of the Interarts Foundation, will focus on issues, trends and challenges in the development of creative economy with Pratibha MEHTA of UN1, Vietnam, Candra DARUSMAN of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Erminia SCIACCHITANO from the Council of Europe and Hermineke VAN BOCKXMEER of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, The Netherlands. Tom FLEMING, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy, UK & Anmol VELLANI, Regional Editor, WorldCP-Asia will respond to the ideas and issues thrown up by the panel.

The second panel, moderated by Sarah GARDNER of International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) will look at policy strategies for the creative economy. Among the speakers in this panel are authors of the cultural policy profiles of India and Korea, Ashish RAJADHYAKSHA and Kiwon HONG.

Panel 3, moderated by Christine MERKEL, German Commission for UNESCO, will address Role of the Creative Economy in Development with Jordi BALTA, Interarts Foundation; Tanvir HOSSAIN, BRAC-Aarong; Peter INKEI, Budapest Observatory; Laure KALTENBACH, Forum d’Avignon; LI Huailiang, Communication University of China; Adelina M. SUEMITH, National Commission for Culture & the Arts, Philippines; TRAN Tuyet Lan, General Manager, Craft Link, Vietnam.

A Public Forum on 5 December will mark the launch of Vietnam’s national strategy for the creative industries and the path to its successful implementation.

Programme

Concept